Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol 1 (5th Edition) [Hardcover]

Douglas E. Comer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0131876716 | ISBN-13: 978-0131876712 | Publication Date: July 10, 2005 | Edition: 5

This best-selling, conceptual introduction to TCP/IP internetworking protocols interweaves a clear discussion of fundamentals with the latest technologies. Leading author Doug Comer covers layering and shows how all protocols in the TCP/IP suite fit into the five-layer model. With a new focus on CIDR addressing, this revision addresses MPLS and IP switching technology, traffic scheduling, VOIP, Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN), and Selective ACKnowledgement (SACK). Includes coverage of Voice and Video Over IP (RTP), IP coverage, a discussion of routing architectures, examination of Internet application services such as domain name system (DNS), electronic mail (SMTP, MIME), file transfer and access (FTP, TFTP, NFS), remote login (TELNET, rlogin), and network management (SNMP, MIB, ANS.I), a description of mobile IP, and private network interconnections such as NAT and VPN. The new edition includes updates to every chapter, updated examples, a new chapter on MPLS and IP switching technology and an expanded TCP description that featuers Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) and Selective ACKnowledgement (SACK). For network and web designers, implementers, and administrators, and for anyone interested in how the Internet works.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Douglas Comer, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University, is an internationally recognized expert on computer networking, the TCP/IP protocols, and the Internet. The author of numerous refereed articles and textbooks, he is a pioneer in the development of curriculum and laboratories for research and education.

A prolific author, Comer's popular books have been translated into 16 languages, and are used in computer science, engineering, and business departments around the world. His landmark three-volume series Internetworking With TCP/IP revolutionized networking and network education. His textbooks and innovative laboratory manuals have shaped, and continue to shape, graduate and undergraduate curricula.

The accuracy and insight of Dr. Comer's books reflect his extensive background in computer systems. His research spans both hardware and software. He has created a complete operating system, written device drivers, and implemented network protocol software for conventional computers as well as network processors. The resulting software has been used by industry in a variety of products.

Comer has created and teaches courses on network protocols and computer technologies for a variety of audiences, including courses for engineers as well as academic audiences. His innovative educational laboratories allow him and his students to design and implement working prototypes of large, complex systems, and measure the performance of the resulting prototypes. He continues to teach at industries, universities, and conferences around the world. In addition, Comer consults for industry on the design of computer networks and systems.

For over 15 years, Professor Comer has served as editor-in-chief of the research journal Software-Practice and Experience. He is a fellow of the ACM, a Fellow of the Purdue Teaching Academy, and a recipient of numerous awards, including a Usenix Lifetime Achievement award

Product Details

• Hardcover: 688 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 5 edition (July 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131876716
• ISBN-13: 978-0131876712
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars explains NAT, VOIP, QoS, IPv6 ...., October 22, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol 1 (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

It was through an earlier version [2nd edition], that I got my first detailed look at the internet structure. It is good to see that Comer continues his decades-long best selling text. It is aimed at engineers and programmers who have to understand and use and possibly develop applications that will run atop the internet.

Firstly, as with the earlier editions, there are comprehensive explanations of what the Internet Protocol means. Thence for the User Datagram Protocol and the Transmission Control Protocol. To most internet or web users, these are really meaningless terms. Not to you, after you have gone through this book. So, as a crucial example, you will understand the difference between UDP and TCP. And what the format of a TCP segment contains, like the source and destination ports and sequence numbers. Plus the TCP 3 way handshake protocol. The above has been well established and stable for over 15 years.

But Comer also brings in newer material. Like the Network Address Translation. A nifty kludge that can get around a shortage of IP addresses. Or, it can be used to furnish more privacy for machines inside a private net, that still need to communicate with the wider internet.

Even newer issues include VOIP. Leading into an analysis of the difficult real time problems of audio Quality of Service. The recent rise of Internet Telephony centres around successful resolution of these matters.

Finally, Comer concludes with a synopsis of the next generation of the internet - 128 bit addressing under IPv6. And how, apart from the vastly increased addressing, it promises to enable such features as protocol extensions and more elaborate address hierarchies. However, he prudently refrains from suggesting when IPv6 will be fully rolled out.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An ideal book for both student and Engineer, January 11, 2007

By 

A. Stone - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol 1 (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

This book is written in a very readable style and yet covers vast ground in a concise way. Its organisation is excellent and the index finds references to the most useful sections quickly and accurately. The student will quickly gain insight into the protocols and operation at an advanced level, and the design engineer will gain the oversight to design excellent products. The references in each chapter provide good additional reading where extra depth is necessary, but are not required for most readers. It is a system designers book, not aimed at implementors of a TCP/IP stack, and this lack of reference to particular software constructs comes as a relief in todays publishing. The best book on this subject which I have read.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Top 4 Computer Network Books Compared, May 24, 2009

By 

Michael Yasumoto - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol 1 (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

This review compares the following four books:
Computer Networks by Peterson and Davie (P & D)
Computer Networks by Tanenbaum
Computer Networks by Comer / Internetworking with TCP/IP
Computer Networking by Kurose and Ross (K & R)

By far the best book in the list is "Computer Networking" by Kurose and Ross. This book covers all of the essential material that is in the other books but manages to do so in a relevant and entertaining way. This book is very up to date as seen by the release of the 5th Ed when the 4th Ed is barely two years old. There are lots of practical exercises using wireshark and the companion website is actually useful and relevant. The attitude of this book with regard to teaching networking concepts could be summed up as "try it out and see for yourself". One interesting thing to note is that the socket programming example are all in Java.

Next up is the Peterson and Davie book which covers everything that Kurose and Ross discuss but is slightly more mathematical in how it goes about things. There are a lot more numerical examples and defining of formulas in this book which is fine by me and in no way detracts from the book. Also the socket programming examples are in C which is a little more traditional. The points where this text loses ground to K & R is that it doesn't have the practical application exercises that K & R has and it also doesn't extend the basic networking theory that is covered to modern protocols like K & R.

The two Comer books come next. Comer's "Computer Networks" book is probably the most introductory book out of this whole list and is more of a survey of networking topics that doesn't cover anything in any real depth. Still, this is an excellent book in that it is a quick clear read that is very lucid in its explanations and you can't help feeling that you understand everything that is covered in the book. Comer's TCP/IP book is the equivalent of the other authors' computer network books and in that respect it is pretty average. It covers all of the relevant material and in a manner which is more than readable but that is all. There is nothing exceptional about the book which stands out from the rest.

Last comes Tanenbaum's book from the author who is probably most famous for his OS books. This is probably the most technical and detailed of the books with lots of sample C code belying is experience with operating systems and their network stack code. The weak point of this book is that all of the code and technical minutia might prevent the reader from seeing the forest for the trees. Unless you are trying to learn how to program your own network stack for a Unix/Linux system, then I would get either the K & R book or the P & D book to learn networking for the first time. This book would best be served as a reference in which case the technical nature of the book becomes a benefit rather than detracting from the text.